The Settlers series has made a very long run since its first release in 1993 [under the name Surf City; known in German-speaking countries as Die Siedler]. It was the very first game of its type, bringing together gameplay tenets, which had not been used in a single strategy game before, and defined the line of the later Settlers games.
Now we are waiting the seventh part of The Settlers franchise and we have so many questions to ask the developers. So, Benedikt Grindel, the producer for the Ubisoft subsidiary Blue Byte is with us and he is ready to answer to all questions that UGDB has prepared.


UGDB: Please, introduce yourself briefly – what is your current job position, what is your professional experience in the game industry, etc.?

My name is Benedikt Grindel. I am the producer on Settlers 7. I have been with Ubisoft since 1998 working in several positions. I started off in marketing, and then became Business Development Manager at Ludiwap (now Gameloft). Since 2001 I have been working as a producer for the Ubisoft subsidiary Blue Byte.



UGDB: Let’s start with the new ideas behind Settlers 7. We’ve heard that you will implement an innovative victory system based on earning points. What can you tell us about this new system, how are we going to earn these points and will they be used for something (unlocking bonus content for example)?

Benedikt Grindel: The victory points system adds a whole new gameplay aspect to the game giving it a more competitive feel. The player who has the most successful strategy and wins the most victory points wins the game. In the beginning of each game the amount of victory points that need to be won is set. There are several victory points – for example there are ones linked directly to the creation of your kingdom: you can win a victory point for holding the most realms, having the highest population, the greatest wealth etc. But these victory points can change hands as the game advances. There are also victory points that can only be won once and the first to achieve it will keep it. These can for example be points scored for being the first player to fully upgrade his stronghold, church or branch office or also points that can be scored on the technology- or trade board.

UGDB: What about the economy in Settlers 7? What will be the main differences compared to the economy system of The Settlers: Rise of an Empire and how is it going to evolve in the seventh part of the series?

BG: There are a lot of differences to the economy system of Rise of an Empire. The production chains are deeper and richer, but the Settlers themselves are less demanding. They do not have any needs any more but to have a place to live in. This makes the economy more understandable and it is therefore more fun to tweak it. It is actually more comparable to the economy of Settlers 2, 3 or 4. The transport system is also new, with a lot of decentralized storehouses instead of one central one. Again, easier to tweak. And then we have added a cool feature called the “food boost”. By giving food to a worker, he will be a lot more effective. You can assign food to different workers at different times. This adds a lot of dynamic.



UGDB: With Settlers IV the concept of the series changed direction and now the game is much more accessible for new players. Lots of fans were disappointed by Settlers V and VI being too easy and unchallengeable. How do you plan on making Settlers 7 accessible for the new players and challenging enough for the core players?

BG: It is true that the Settlers series has made a lot of turns in the past which some players appreciated and others didn’t. This is always a learning process for the team and it is our goal to make the best Settlers game ever that appeals to as many people as possible.

With Settlers 7 we took the chance to make a much diversified game for single players and multiplayers, for short termed players and long termed players, we implemented different difficulties and most of all it is the player’s choice to choose his own strategy to win giving him a lot of playing freedom, whether through a strong army, knowledgeable clerics or clever traders.

To make it accessible to newbies we implemented a comprehensive tutorial in the game giving a very good introduction to the game. The exhaustless tweaking possibilities for your economy will keep the players glued to the game.

We have implemented challenging single player and multi player maps, players even have the opportunity to tweak their own maps and the amount of resources, number of opponents, number of victory points and many more per match.

I strongly believe we have implemented very strong features that will appeal to all kinds of player types.



UGDB: How is the singleplayer campaign going to be structured? In the previous game (The Settlers: Rise of an Empire) there were different types of knights. Choosing one of them lead to a more peaceful or more offensive way to complete a map; they were used to reveal the fog of war and for trading too. How are you going to diversify the missions this time?

BG: This time we have chosen not to have a dedicated hero to choose from. The single player campaign follows the story of Zoe, a princess of the age, who attempts to return a ruined kingdom to its former glory. The first half of the campaign also serves as a tutorial to Settlers 7, gradually introducing you to most of the game mechanics and features. Having completed the campaign you will be prepared to explore other maps against your friends and computer operated opponents.
Each map is totally different and with the opportunity to change parameters of the map itself, you are able to change the whole game and need to rethink your strategy over and over. This way we can insure long term replay value.

UGDB: The Settlers: Rise of an Empire was really good in terms of creating a large, living and breathing city, but it had one particular flaw – every new game plays the same way and it ends the same way too. Are you going to change this in the new installment of the series and do you consider including speed control in Settlers 7?

BG: Settlers 7 provides the greatest amount of freedom in the choice of strategy and way to win than any other previous Settler game. You can build up a strong Army and win through military strength, but you can also choose the path of Science and train clerics, that will research technologies for you or you can use traders to expand on the trade map and engage in trade quests and exchange your goods. You can replay your matches every time using different strategies. You can even change variables of each map enabling you to choose what type of game you want to play – a long match marathon or a short match sprint.



UGDB: One of the flaws of the previous Settlers games was that the production chains were not that complex – you extract raw material (stone for example) and it’s automatically converted into a finished building material. Do have plans to make the production chains more complex and is it going to be possible to combine resources like iron and coal to make steel for example?

BG: As mentioned above, we have done exactly that. The production chains are very similar to those in classical Settlers games.

UGDB: The essence of the city-building games is pretty much the level of detail. Seeing the goods being carried by the settlers, seeing how the buildings are constructed, managing all little things, etc is what makes us happy. How much detail you will put in Settlers 7 and can you give us some examples here?

BG: Settlers has always been a very detailed game. Our team has put in a lot of effort into the graphics and animations to keep up the high level of detail and wanting the player to watch them over and over again. Each settler has his own special animation: you can watch the butcher make sausages, the brew master make beer and even drink a sip out of her glas; you can see them weave cloth or craft tools. Whatever detail catches your eye it will be unique.
Furthermore we have built in an entirely free camera, giving the player the opportunity to look at his kingdom from any desired angle – from up far or down below. It is your choice.

UGDB: Speaking of level of detail and graphic engines will there be a day/night cycle and weather system in the game? How such visual effects will affect the gameplay itself?

BG: There won’t exactly be a day and night cycle in the game – we will have a moving sun that will change the atmosphere of the light and some seasonal change – e.g. the colour of the leaves will change. We also have storms.



UGDB: What about the multiplayer part of the game? What are the modes that will give the players the ability to compete against each other and is it going to be possible for users to create maps and release them for downloads afterwards, for example?

BG: This is exactly what we have planned. People can join multiplayer matches – up to 5 people can compete each other for the race for victory points. They will be able to chat with each other, create own maps and later provide them to other users,

UGDB: One particular question is troubling the fans of the series – are you planning on including ships and navy in Settlers 7 and why there wasn’t any in the previous titles of the series? Are you afraid that the gameplay (the transport of goods in particular) will be similar to that of another city-building franchise – ANNO?

BG: No – we have not implemented any ships or navy. We do not consider this to be a key feature for The Settlers.

UGDB: Can you share some stats around the development of Settlers 7 – for example, how many people are working on the game and since when; how much time are we going to need to complete the singleplayer campaign; what’s the polygon count on the buildings and the settlers themselves and can you compare it with that of the previous game The Settlers: Rise of an Empire?

BG: We had a maximum of 120 people working on the game with 50+ at Blue Byte in the core team. We started working on it in early 2008. The single player campaign should take between 17 and 20 hours to complete, but if someone decides to go more slowly, he or she can. The polygon count has gone up quite a bit, because we wanted to achieve a high level of detail.



UGDB: What are your plans for the copy protection of Settlers 7? ANNO/Dawn of Discovery (another city-building game published by Ubisoft) used a DRM system based on Tagès, which managed to protect the game for more than a month. Do you plan to use such protection and have you ever considered making something similar to the Settlers III copy protection (in the leaked version of the game, the iron smelters produced pigs instead of iron, thus the weapon production was impossible)?

BG: It is very important to us to copy protect the game. Further details will follow soon. [more information here]

UGDB: The Settlers series has always been a PC exclusive, but these days it’s a fashion to see strategy games get console versions. Do you plan at some point to develop Settlers 7 for any of the current video game consoles?

BG: Consoles play an extremely important part in the world of gaming, but there are no plans to convert the game to console.



UGDB: Is it possible at this point of development to tell us what the minimum and recommended system requirements of Settlers 7 are going to be?

BG: Our goal is to make the game to be as accessible to as many computers as possible. We are currently working at full speed to make this possible. Once we will have the final specs we will of course let the public know. At this point it is still too early to confirm.

UGDB: What were your personal most memorable moments of the development process of Settlers 7?

BG: The first time I played a real skirmish map. It felt great: very rich, a lot of options, I could play my way and it felt challenging and accessible.

UGDB: The announcement trailer released in September 2009 told us that the game will be released in the Spring of 2010. Is this still the launch window for Settlers 7 and can you be more specific with the release date at this point?

BG: This is still the launch window and it looks like Spring 2010 will remain our release window.



UGDB: Have you considered producing any DLC after Settlers 7 releases or you are going to choose the expansion model as usual?

BG: We will have extensive online community features ranging from online multiplayer matches, where people can play against each other, chat, communicate or exchange tips. We will have the opportunity of content sharing where players can share their maps, screenshots, rankings or other achievements they have made.

UGDB: You guys are a studio based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Are we going to wait for the English version a couple of weeks/months more since the German release of Settlers 7?

BG: This time the whole development process was in English, therefore the English version will be released simultaneously with the German version.

UGDB: When you are planning on releasing any new trailer/gameplay video of Settlers 7 and do you have any plans to release a demo before the official premiere of the game?

BG: Before the release we will be having some more gameplay footage videos, interviews etc. keep an eye out for them. Of course we will also have a demo.